MK One was a British
fashion
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...
retailer
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
.
History
Beginnings as Mark One
The company was founded in the 1980s by Mark Brafman, Les Lucy and Alan Simons as Mark One, and became a discount womenswear retailer. In February 1996, Mark One was bought from administration by billionaire
Philip Green
Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green (born 15 March 1952) is a British businessman who was the chairman of the retail company the Arcadia Group. He owned the high street clothing retailers Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge from 2002 to 2020. As of Ma ...
, owner of
BHS.
Shami Ahmed
Mohammed Shami Ahmed (born 3 September 1990) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian national cricket team in all formats of the game as a right-arm fast bowler. He plays domestically for Bengal and in the Indian Premier L ...
had also made a failed bid for the company in 1996. In the end of the 1990s, a change to the firm's logo saw the firm's name begin to be commonly spelt as "MK One".
In July 2003, Green sold most of stake in MK One, whilst keeping 10%, to Elaine McPherson, the managing director, and David Thompson, the finance director.
Sale to Baugur
In November 2004, the 177 store MK One chain was bought by the
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
ic group
Baugur for £55 million (this included £11 million worth of debts); in February 2009, Baugur itself entered the equivalent of administration. Les Johnston became chief executive, and Andy Hall became finance director. Johnston and Hall took a 20% stake in the chain, while Baugur, had a 41% shareholding.
The banks Landsbanki and Barclays provided debt, taking 36% of Mk One. Arev, a consulting firm, took 3%. McPherson and Thompson left the group. Baugur had planned to expand to chain to around 450 stores. In 2007, the company made losses of £17.4 million.
Sale to Hilco, administration and sale to Brafman
In May 2008, a majority stake in the 170 store company was sold to
Hilco
Hilco Global is an American financial services holding company. It operates over twenty businesses and specializes in asset valuation, advisory, monetization, and disposition services. Headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, it has offices th ...
, a restructuring specialist. Three weeks later in May, Hilco appointed Deloitte as administrators, to find a buyer for MK One.
The company was sold from administration back to Mark Brafman, its founder, via Jet Star Retail. Bali Singh took over as boss when Brafman left in October, and Singh tried to acquire more funds to allow the business to continue. One of the company's suppliers, which had not been paid, started the bankruptcy proceedings. Around sixty of the stores were closed.
Administration and sale to Internacionale Retail
Deloitte continued to act for MK One’s original lenders, but was forced to place MK One into administration with
Leonard Curtis
Leonard Curtis is one of the largest independent firms in the UK specialising in corporate recovery, insolvency and business restructuring.
It is a national practice with more than 250 staff based at offices in Manchester, Bury, Liverpool, Presto ...
. On 20 November, the 125 store chain entered administration, putting 1,400 jobs at risk. Leonard Curtis said that there had been a number of expressions of interest for the company.
On 25 November, eighty stores were sold by administrators (Neil Bennett of Leonard Curtis) to
Internacionale Retail. The textiles group from
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
S. Kumars Nationwide, purchased
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
based Internacionale earlier in May 2008. The head office in
Acton Acton may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Mount Acton
Australia
* Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie
* Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton
Canada ...
, west
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, was closed. By May 2009, all Mk One stores that were purchased by Internacionale had been rebranded under that firm's name.
Internacionale company profile, including reference to takeover of Mk One stores
References
{{reflist, 30em
Clothing retailers of the United Kingdom
British companies established in 1985
Retail companies established in 1985
Retail companies disestablished in 2009
Defunct retail companies of the United Kingdom
1980s fashion
Companies based in the City of London
Acton, London